Land-leveler.



H. A. LAGE.

LAND LEVELER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31. 1916.

Patented Feb. 18, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 7 1,294,].&

ATTORNEYE H. A. LAGE.

LAND LEVELER.

APPUCATION FILED IAN. 31. 19:6.

Patented Feb. 18, 1919.

3SHEETS -SHEET 2.

WITNES SE5:

AMORNEYB H, A. LAGE.

LAND LEVELER 0 APPLICAHON FILED 5101.31. 1915- V V I 1,29%,812, Patented Mb. 1-5, i919.

VITNESSES:

INVENTOR 15%)?? ZZc/ye Amonxmys mrnsrarn W HENRY A. LAGE, or mnncnn, CALIFORNIA nannmnvnnnnt aaeaeia' I To cZZ whom it may concern: I

.Be it known that I, HENRY A. Leon, a citi-' zen of the United States, residing at Merced, in the county of Merced and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Land-Levelers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to land levelers .of the type shown and described'in my pending application Ser. No. 830,657, filed April 9, 1914; and has for its object to simplify and improve the construction and operation be as wide as desired. V Y

Y The foregoing desiderata are provided for of such devices.

In producing a practical and efficient leveler adapted for use with a. tractor and op' erating on furrowed or uneven ground, it isimportant, in order to prevent fluctuations in the elevations of the scraper blade to dispense with wheels at the front of the device and to arrange the carriage wheels therefor at the rear of thefr-ame and in'the wake of the scraper, so that they ride upon the sur-- face which has already been leveled and thus Serve to maintain the blade at a constant elevation. T 0 relieve all strains from the frame the scraper blade should be carried by draft links, which connect at their front directly with a coupling member which receives the.

tractor draft connection, and their p0int of connection in front should be above the line of thecarriage wheel centers in order to further requirement is the employment of an elevated frame, beneath which the scraper blade is suspended, so. that the frame may be of narrow construction while the blade can in the present device, and in addition I employ simple and easily controlled power operated means for raising and lowering the blade and improved and simplified connections between the blade and draft coupling member on the frame and between the blade and controlling mechanism.

One form which my invention may assume is exemplified in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which 4 Figure 1 shows a plan view of a device embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 shows a diagram illustrating the advantageous operation of the carriage Specification of Letters Patent.

wheels by reason of their location behind the scraper blade. 1

Fig. 4 shows a rear elevation of the device shown in' Figs. 1 and 2. a

Fig. 5.shows a detail of the jointed con: nection-between the adjustable, rack-bar and the scraper blade. Fig. 6 shows a detail sectional view of the friction cone clutch and driving mechanism therefor employed in the device. 1

Referring in detail to-the accompanying Patented Feb. 18, 1919.

.' Application filed January 31, 1916. Serial No. 75,308. Y

drawings, I have shown a narrow, A-shaped' ,frame 10, formed of channel side-bars, up-

wardly inclined and rearwardly diverging and supported at their rear-upon carriage wheels 11, by means of raised bolster members 12. A rigid coupling member 13 is 'fitted to the ,front end of the main frame on a line above the axle of the carriage Wheels and pivotally receives a draft connection 14 carried by a tractor .or other power device, not shown. .The coupling member '13 extends rearwardly and downwardly. a slight distancewhere it pivotally receives'three draft bars 15'; one running centrally to the rear and the remaining two diverging later-ally therefrom, all being "in turn pivotally connected to the lower edge of the scraper 16 at three points thereon.

The scraper, preferably, has a concaved rear portion carrying a sharpened blade 17 and provided with attached sides 18;.

On the back of the scraper is a pair of 'spaced angle-bars or cleats l9,- extending vertically to a point above the frame where they rest against and are guided by rollers" 20, carried by brackets 21 connected to the framebars. Thus the scraper is drawn from its lowermost-portion and is retained against rearward movement atits upper portion by means of the cleats and rollers describedp,

Pivotally connected to the intermediate portions of the cleats 19, by meansof the bent coupling pins 22, shown in Fig. 5, are respective rack-bars 23, extending upwardly through guide yokes 2A and held in mesh with pinions 25, ca'rrled upon a transverse shaft 26 journaledon standards '27 carried bytheframe. v

Power operated means'are provided for the shaft 26,- through a sprocket'wheel 28 1 thereon havin a chain connection 29 with a driving" sproc et-wheel 30 carried on the axleof the wheels 11. Said sprocket-wheel 28 is loose upon the shaft 26 and carries a friction-cone clutch memb r 31 and is shift fee ' be forcibly moved downward by the ad able by a lever 32 to cause said clutch member to engage and disengage a coiiperating clutch member 33 fixed lipon said shaft. A friction brake band 34: fits over the clutch member33 and is operated b'ya foot pedal; '35 to hold saidclutch member, and consequently the shaft, against turning, whereby to control the position of elevation of the .scraper. A hand-wheel 36 is provided for the shaft 26', being preferably connected with the clutch member 33 and is for the purpose of permitting manual adjustment of the scraper blade vertically in either direction.

The yoke members '24 are rigidly. con nected'to the standards 27 and have bifur cated ends fitted with rollers 87 which engage the rear flattened surface of the rack-.

bars 23 and serve to hold said bars in a vertical plane in mesh with the pinions 25. The

upper. ends ofthe cleats 19 being held M against, rearward movement afiord, in connection with the-rack-bars '23, a pivotedlink connection between the raising and lowering mechanism and the scraper which is locked coupling pins 22 are also preferably ad justable upon the cleats 19, through the 'provision of a series of openings 22 therefor,

whereby the distance between the operating mechanism and the scraper may beadjusted. The friction clutch mechanism-employed is advantageous inthat it permits slippage .and eliminates the possibility of breakage of the parts. Also with a clutch mechanism of this type, the speed of operation of the driven shaft -may be varied by means of the band brake thereon.

. are closely "and conveniently arranged; a platform 38 being arranged on the rear of the frame to'receive an operator.

While I have shown and described but one form ofdevice herein, it will he understood that the same is susceptible of modification and, therefore changes in the construction and arrangement of the several-parts may be" employed without departing: from the spirit of myfinvention as disclosed in; the ap--' gageahle with opposite sides of the frame ;so as to hold the scraper against movement 1 transverse of the'frame, and means for ,piv-

pended claims. i The cleats'19, as will spection of Fig. l are arrangedincomparatively close relation'with thesides of the frame bars,-

scraper against endwise movement;

tion with'the flexible suspension links for the scraper and the pivoted connections for the draft bars both with the scraper and the I. frame, which is found in the fact that vibratory movements of the frame, im-partedby the rise and fall of the draft vehicle over uneven ground, are not transmitted to the The controlling parts be seen from an in-.

and thus serveto hold the.

' naeaeia scraper, and therefore theangular position of the latter at work remains substantially where positive means are provided for de-.

pressing the scraper, is the yielding or frictional brake device for holding the scraper to its work. A positive lock for this purpose would be disastrous to the machine,

Whereas the present device is suficiently secure for normal conditions and will yield to permit the scraper to ride over obstructions.

Having thus described. my invention,

what i claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is i l 1. In a land leveler, a frame, a scraperg a pair of vertical bars connected" at their lower ends to the scraper,'rack bars piv-' A otally connected attheirlower ends tothe vertical bars, standards extending upwardly.

from the frame, a'.shaftjournaled in said.

standards, pinions on the shaft meshed with the teeth ofthe rack-bars, means on the v frame bearing against-intermediate parts of v the rear sides of the vertioalfbars to hold the latter against rearward movement, vyokes on the. standards receiving the rack bars, spaced means borne by the yokes anden- 3 an; a land leveler, a frameya scra er,

a pair of vertical bars connected at t eir lower ends to the scraper, rack bars pivotally connected at their lower ends to the vertical loars, pinions mounted on the frame in mesh with the rack bars, means engaglng the rear sides of the vertical bars to hold same against'rearwar'd movement, means engaging the rack'to'ihold the pinions in engagement therewith, and means to 'operate the pinions:

. aged with the-upper end parts of the rack if I .loars tohold same in mesh with the pinions, and means tofoperate'the shaft.

ice-i.

'3. ln'a landleveler', a frame,'a scraper,

-verticallyadjustable' rack bars on the frame, -rigidmembers connected to the scraper, 1' means to hold the members against rearward movement, said members being enfotally connecting the lower ends of the rack [bars to the members to allow the rack bars v to flex independently of the members There is a further advantage in" comics vAt. in a land levele'r, a frame, ascraper,

rigid vertical members adjacent the scraper ends engageable with opposite sides of the frame, means to slidably support said membars from the frame tohold the members.

against rearward movement, means to raise and lower the scraper, and a series of draft r. he links being arranged to form pair of outer divergent links connected scraper ad acent the outer ends and atom of the latter, and a central link bet e upper portion of the same against rearward movement and projecting upwardly :lerelrom, means on the frame engaging A, upwardly projecting parts of said vertiembers to hold same against rearward woment. raising and lowering elements ml. at their lower parts to said vertical n anbers, and means to effect raising and lowering of said elements.

3. ln a land leveler, a frame including s de members inclined downwardly and conwrging at their forward end portions, a aper arranged below the frame, links pivl to the forward end of the frame and hing downwardly at their rear ends oiiaily connected with the scraper the bottom of the latter, vertical s connected to the scraper to supnpper portion of the same against ouflfl. movement and projecting vertij past the frame, means on the frame to prey in rearward movement of the upper parts of the vertical members and which permits them to move vertically, and means to raise and lower the scraper.

7. A land leveler as specified in claim 6, in which the scraper raising and lowering means embodies racks having pivotal connection at their lower ends to the rigid vertical members, pinions meshed With the racks, and means to hold the pinions and racks in mesh.

8. In a land leveler, a Wheeled frame, a scraper beneath the frame, means to pivotallv connect the scraper to the front of the frame, vertical members connected to the scraper and projecting upwardly therefrom, means to raise and lower the scraper, and means engaging the verticalmembers to prevent rearward movement thereof in all positions of the scraper, said means pivotally connecting the scraper to the frame and said members being both connected to the scraper so that during forward movement of the frame the impelling supports on the scraper will occur at the lower and upper portions thereof.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY A. LAGE. l Vitnesses F. R. BANoRor'r, Geo. E. Kreer. 

